Jerk salmon recipe

Thanks to Richard for providing us with some Caribbean sunshine and flavours!
Fish supplied by Steve at www.freshfishtogo.co.uk Other ingredients supplied by Daily Bread www.dailybread.co.uk

Ingredients
Fillets fresh trout
1kg new potatoes
1 bunch asparagus
4 shallots
Fresh parsley
Fresh tarragon
250g unsalted butter
50ml white wine
25ml white wine vinegar
100ml double cream
10 white peppercorns
Table salt
White pepper
Seasoned flour

Method
Place new potatoes in to warm water bring to the boil until just cooked
Roughly chop the shallots and tarragon stalks as well and place in a pan with the white wine, vinegar and cream and the peppercorns reduce this on the stove by half.
Whilst the potatoes are cooking and the sauce is reducing cut the tips of the asparagus of so you have a spear that is about 4cm long.
The remainder of the asparagus slice in to fine rounds.
Place the trout fillets in the seasoned flour skin down and then season the flesh side with table salt
Place a non stick pan on a medium heat to warm up
Pass the cream reduction through a sieve and then gently whisk the butter in to the cream reduction over a low heat once you have started to add the butter you can not boil the sauce or it will split add, add the butter bit at a time and continuously whisk until its incorporated into the cream then season with salt and pepper add some chopped parsley.
Place the fish in the non stick pan with a touch of oil and cook for about 4-5mins skin faced down and flip over for 1minute and remove from pan.
Put asparagus into boiling water for about one minute crush the new potatoes with a fork season with salt and pepper add asparagus rounds and place in a ring or mould on the plate place spears on top and sauce round the outside and trout on top of the potatoes and asparagus.

 Thanks to Steve from http://www.freshfishtogo.co.uk for supplying the trout and Leafcycles for the vegetables www.leafcycles.co.uk

Thanks to Anthony for a great recipe.
Anthony Horn, Head Chef at the Red Lion, East Haddon www.redlioneasthaddon.co.uk/

Method 

1. Heat the oil in the pan, add the washed and dried rice, and cook quickly until the rice begins to crack. 

2. Lower the heat in the pan, add the onion and garlic and sweat. 

3. Pour on the white wine, sprinkle in the saffron and leave to simmer. 

4. Cut the courgette into four length ways, remove the seeds and cut into large dice. 

5. Check the rice, making sure it has not stuck to the bottom of the pan. 

6. Add a ladle of stock to the pan and the courgettes, continue to stir occasionally. 

7. When the rice is cooked, add the grated parmesan and butter, season to taste and serve.

Mediterranean Puy Lentil Casserole

Serves one
Ingredients 

50g Finely chopped red onion 
1 clove garlic finely chopped
4 tomatoes Eye removed
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stick celery finely chopped
6 french beans blanched and diced
100ml vegetable stock
50ml red wine
50g Puy lentils 
Miso to taste -
Soya sauce to taste
6 fresh basil leaves
Olive oil 

Method
1 Sweat the onion and garlic, add the carrots and the celery increase the heat and lightly brown the vegetables.
2 Dice the tomatoes, mix in with the vegetables and simmer, pour on the stock and red wine add the puy lentils and cook until the vegetables are soft and the lentils are cooked, if the mixture gets dry add water or more stock.
3 When the mixture is cooked season with the miso and soya sauce, sprinkle with torn basil leaves 

All the ingredients for these tasty recipes have been supplied by Leafcycles www.leafcycles.co.uk and Daily Bread www.dailybread.co.uk 

Huge thanks to Richard for the recipes 

Pan-fried Moroccan Pork with Cous Cous and yoghurt

Serves 4
600g pork fillet or tenderloin
1 fresh red chilli seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 Garlic clove
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tbsp sultanas
4 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 orange segmented 
4 tablespoons of fresh mint
Juice of a fresh lemon
Salt & pepper

Method

Put the chopped chilli, chilli flakes, garlic, grated ginger, lemon juice, cinnamon, cumin, sultanas, pine nuts, half the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt in bowl, mix well. Add the pork strips and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pork marinade and stir fy for 1-2 minutes. Turn over, add the orange and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Stir through the chopped mint and service with natural yoghurt and cous cous.
A huge thanks to Karen for creating and cooking such a great recipe, Karen can be contacted on kj.davies@ntlworld.com.

Flambé Strawberries with Quick Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients
150g Ginger nut biscuits
50g Butter
250g Mascarpone Cheese
250g Quark
½ Lemon juice
Rind of one lemon
50g Icing sugar　

Method

1. Put the Ginger nut biscuit in a food processor and blend until a fine crumb is formed, add the butter and blend on pulse until combined.
2. Mix the quark and mascarpone cheeses together, add the rind of the lemon, and the juice of half a lemon and the icing sugar to taste, chill in the fridge.
3. Press the ginger nut crumb mixture into the bottom of the moulds for the cheese cake, making sure the mixture is firmly pushed down.
4. Put the cheeses cake mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the moulds, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon that has been dipped into boiling water.
5. Cool in the fridge for twenty minutes, or until the strawberries are ready.

A huge thanks to our friends at Leafcyles who provided the summer fruits www.leafcycles.co.uk
and to Daily Bread www.dailybread.co.uk

Mojo-marinated roast chicken, just like grandma used to make! Serve with white rice, which is the traditional way. It’s also great with mashed potatoes . You can use half the mojo recipe for a smaller bird, drumsticks, or thighs.”
INGREDIENTS
120 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 g ground cumin
7 g kosher salt
0.8 g dried oregano
15 g minced garlic
45 ml lime juice
45 ml orange juice
1 (6 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until very hot. While the oil heats, mash the cumin, salt, oregano, and garlic together into a paste in a heat-proof bowl; whisk the hot oil into the paste. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Add the lime juice and orange juice; stir. Place the chicken in a large sealable bag; pour the marinade over the chicken and shake to assure an even coating. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, up to overnight.

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Arrange the marinated chicken in a roasting pan.
Bake the chicken in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 1 hour.

If you would like to learn more about the delights and flavors of Caribbean Cookery come and join us on 17th October at Northampton College

Flambé strawberries with quick lemon cheesecake 

Thanks to everyone who came to visit us at the Simply Specialists marquee over the bank holiday weekend – as promised Richards delicious Strawberry cheesecake recipe – let us know how you get on.

Ingredients
150g                Ginger nut biscuits
50g                  Butter
250g                Mascarpone Cheese
250g                Quark
½                     Lemon juice
                          Rind of one lemon
50g                  Icing sugar 

Method

1. Put the Ginger nut biscuit in a food processor and blend until a fine crumb is formed, add the butter and blend on pulse until combined.
2. Mix the quark and mascarpone cheeses together, add the rind of the lemon, and the juice of half a lemon and the icing sugar to taste, chill in the fridge.
3. Press the ginger nut crumb mixture into the bottom of the moulds for the cheese cake, making sure the mixture is firmly pushed down.
4. Put the cheeses cake mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the moulds, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon that has been dipped into boiling water.
5. Cool in the fridge for twenty minutes, or until the strawberries are ready.

Strawberry Flambé    

Ingredients

½                     Punnet strawberries (250g)
25g                  Butter
25g                  Castor sugar
½                     Juice from a lemon
25ml                 Brandy 

Method

1. Heat a frying pan and melt the butter, add the sugar and caramelise.
2. Add the lemon juice and reduce the mixture to syrup.
3.  Toss the strawberries in the sugar mixture.
4. Flambé with the brandy.

To finish

Run a hot knife round the cheesecake moulds and spoon round the Strawberry Flambé.

There are so many traditional cherry recipes prepared all over the world. Germany is known for a distilled cherry spirit (kirsch) and of course black forest gateau. On the other hand, sour cherries are soaked into a hot or cold soup in many parts of Eastern Europe, whereas the French make clafoutis, a delicious batter pudding made with sweet cherries.

Preparation time is less than 30 minutes and cooking time is 30 minutes or until firm to touch.
First the ingredients for the filling:
450g/1lb fresh stoned cherries
2 tbsp kirsch (or red wine);
2 level tbsp granulated sugar;
2 tbsp ground biscuit crumbs (prefer digestive biscuits);

For the batter we need:
2 whole eggs;
2 egg yolks;
30g/1oz cornflour;
85g/3oz sugar;
250g/9oz double cream

Preparation Method

Step 1: Preheat oven to about 220C/425F/Gas7.
Step 2: Combine the cherries, kirsch and sugar. Place in an ovenproof dish. Put in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cherries turn hot. Drain them, saving the juices and let them cool.
Step 3: Reduce the oven temperature to about 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Step 4: For the batter, whisk the egg yolks and whole eggs until light and frothy. Add the sugar. Whisk until well blended. Now add the double cream and cornflour, then set aside to rest.
Step 5: Mix the cherries with the digestive biscuit crumbs, sprinkle slowly into the ovenproof dish, pour over the batter. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and firm.
Step 6: Leave to cool down to room temperature, dust with caster sugar. Serve with crème fraîche flavoured with fine cherry juice or vanilla ice cream.

Preparation tips:

• Tip 1: Add the cherry juice to red wine vinegar for superb cherry vinegar.
• Tip 2: Biscuit crumbs absorb excess cherry juice that stops the final dish turning soggy.
• Tip 3: Batter can be prepared up to 2 hours before. Just give it another good whisk before use.

One of the best ways to buy fresh, local produce is to visit your local farm shops. Here are a couple of my favourites in Northamptonshire, Wakefield Farm Shop, situated on the A5 at Potterspury, couple of miles from Milton Keynes, www.wakefieldfarmshop.co.uk. Smiths Farm Shop, Brampton Lane, Chapel Brampton, Northampton, www.smithsfarmshop.co.uk

If you have a great local farm shop let me know and lets make sure we take advantage of all the local fresh produce available.

Ingredients

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the sweet potato chips, heat the butter in an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and cook the sweet potato, garlic and herbs for 5-6 minutes, or until slightly browned.
3. Transfer to the oven and cook for a further 10-12 minutes, or until the sweet potato chips are golden brown and tender. Remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs and discard.
4. For the battered trout, place the flour, cornflour and ice cubes into a bowl and whisk in enough sparkling water to make a batter the consistency of double cream (you may not need it all).
5. Fill a frying pan to a depth of about 2.5cm/1in with vegetable oil and place over a medium heat.
6. Dip the trout fillet into the batter to coat on both sides, shaking off any excess. Carefully place the battered trout into the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, turning carefully with a fish slice, until the batter is crisp and golden-brown and the fish is cooked through. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
7. For the mushy peas, heat the butter in a small saucepan and cook the garlic for one minute.
8. Add the peas and the water or stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
9. Pour the peas into a food processor, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and blend until smooth.
10. To serve, place the sweet potato chips onto a plate, top with the fish and serve the peas alongside.